Italy: Gregorio Paltrinieri undergoes elbow and finger surgery: 6–8 weeks off

Rome: After winning three silver medals at the Open Water Worlds in Singapore, Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri faced a different kind of challenge — this time, far from the water.

He recently had a double surgery at the Sassuolo (ITA) hospital, where doctors removed a screw from his elbow (left from a past operation that was still bothering him) and also fixed a fracture in his left ring finger, injured during the 10 km race.

He’ll need 6 to 8 weeks to fully recover, which actually fits well into this part of the season — a time to rest, recharge, and reset before diving back into serious training.

As usual, Paltrinieri kept things light. On social media he joked, “I really broke the…”, posted a smiling pic from the hospital bed, and thanked the doctors. Then came the classic Greg twist: “I can still do 50 free with a straight arm in 23-high!”, plus a random pizza story (someone offered him a full kilo the night before surgery — he didn’t say no).

But while Greg rests and jokes, Rossella Fiamingo — his girlfriend, Olympic gold medalist in team épée — dropped a little bomb in an interview back in Italy.

After celebrating her team victory in Paris 2024, she’s already looking ahead to her 10th World Championships in Tbilisi, and maybe… something more.

If Greg asked me to marry him, I’d say yes right away,” she said to Italian media, with a smile. “But it’s up to the man… I’m waiting.”

And so, with Greg nursing a broken ring finger, and Rossella casually mentioning rings in the press… let’s just say the timing is suspiciously poetic. Coincidence? Maybe. But one thing’s for sure — between medals, surgeries, and hearts wide open, the ring is still hanging in the air.

Gregorio Paltrinieri  was also entered in the 800m and 1500m freestyle events in the pool program at Worlds (July 27–August 3).

He was coming in strong — #5 seed in the 800 (7:39.38), just behind Schwarz, Wiffen, Finke, and Märtens, and even more competitive in the 1500, where he held the #2 seed with a 14:34.55, ahead of Wellbrock and right behind Finke.

But after getting injured in the 10k open water race, Paltrinieri pushed through the pain, still grabbing silver in the 5k and in the team relay. In the end, though, the injury forced him to withdraw from the pool events — a tough call, but the right one for his health.